Customer Perceptions of Safety and Security Continue to Increase
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York City Transit (NYCT) President Richard Davey today unveiled the results from the December 2022 Customer Pulse Survey, which found customer survey ratings and key performance indicators have seen measurable improvements since launching the NYCT Strategic Operating Plan for Improving the Customer Experience: Faster, Cleaner, Safer.
In October, the MTA along with Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams announced a series of expanded initiatives to keep New York City subways safe and address transit crime. In the December Customer Pulse Survey, customers were asked how safe they felt and the responses indicated riders felt significantly safer — 40% of those surveyed said in October they felt “safe” or “very safe,” with that number jumping 18% to almost 60% in December, the largest such jump in a month and the highest single month figure for customers feeling “safe” or “very safe” since the survey began asking that question in February 2022. Three thousand riders responded to the survey in December, reflecting a cross section of New York City Transit customers.
“Since day one at New York City Transit, the North Star has been to improve the customer experience,” Davey said. “New Yorkers are coming back to the subways and our team is working hard to ensure their commutes are faster, cleaner and safer than ever before.”
NYC Transit continues to install cameras in each subway car to enhance security coverage and increase customer confidence, as well as have train conductors announce when entering a station with police officers present. By the end of 2024, camera coverage will extend to 6,500 subway cars.
December results also saw an increased rating of Cleanliness on Board, up by 10 points. As part of the NYCT Station Re-NEW-vation project, which has coincided cosmetic upgrades at stations with planned weekend outages, stations are being re-lamped with brighter, LED-energy efficient lighting. Investments in improvements to the physical environment in stations such as enhancing lighting supports efforts to promote public safety.
Ratings from subway customers on Overall Subway Experience was favorable, trending positively and closing the year with a 7-percentage point increase compared to June.
Overall satisfaction with Access-A-Ride surpassed NYC Transit’s North Star goal at 74% for the second time in the last six-month period, a five percentage-point increase since November 2022 and a 12 percentage-point increase since July. Satisfaction scores were up for all service periods, specifically AM Peak up 15 percentage-points and weekend up 13 percentage-points. The greatest increase was for On-Time Pick Up, which increased by five percentage points, followed by Reservation Staff Helpfulness which increased by four percentage points.